{"id":20563,"date":"2022-07-24T21:45:33","date_gmt":"2022-07-24T13:45:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/indianhalloffame.sg\/?page_id=20563"},"modified":"2022-07-24T21:46:12","modified_gmt":"2022-07-24T13:46:12","slug":"sr-nathan","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/indianhalloffame.sg\/?page_id=20563","title":{"rendered":"SR Nathan"},"content":{"rendered":"

[vc_row][vc_column width=”1\/4″ css=”.vc_custom_1658507093882{border-radius: 10px !important;}”][vc_single_image image=”20567″ img_size=”full” css=”.vc_custom_1658670249181{margin-top: 100px !important;margin-left: 120px !important;}”][\/vc_column][vc_column width=”3\/4″][vc_column_text css=”.vc_custom_1658670329699{margin-top: 100px !important;margin-right: 120px !important;margin-bottom: 100px !important;margin-left: 120px !important;border-right-width: 10px !important;border-left-width: 10px !important;border-radius: 10px !important;}”]<\/p>\n

SR Nathan<\/h2>\n

IHF-SG Excellence Award For Lifetime Achievement<\/h3>\n

 <\/p>\n

Sellapan Ramanathan was born on 3 July 1924. He was elected uncontested as the sixth President of Singapore and sworn in on 1 September 1999. He was again elected <\/span>unopposed in his second term in 2005. He was the longest serving president when he <\/span>finished his term on 31 August 2011.<\/span><\/p>\n

After CV Devan Nair, SR Nathan was the second President of Indian origin to assume the highest office of the land. A hard-bitten man who lost his father at the tender age of just eight, Nathan’s life was a catalogue of struggles and hardship wrought by the extraordinary <\/span>circumstances of his times.<\/span><\/p>\n

Nathan was born in Muar, Johor, at a time when both Singapore and Malaysia were in a common union. He was schooled in Singapore at Anglo Chinese Primary and Rangoon Road Schools and later he completed his secondary education at Victoria School. But the Second World War and the Japanese Occupation of Singapore between 1942 and 1945 put his studies on the back burner. He briefly began working as a translator for the Japanese civilian police and after the war resumed his higher studies at the University of Singapore (now NUS).<\/span><\/p>\n

He graduated in 1954 with a distinction in his Diploma in Social Sciences. Somewhat of a martinet who never failed to exercise in the morning, the former president is best remembered for his unwavering support and defence of Singapore’s interests.<\/span><\/p>\n

The one time Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs was the face weathering the cascade of brutal American denunciations in the caning of US teenager Michael Fay for vandalism in 1994. Nathan was also the director of the Security and Intelligence Division and the chairman of the Singapore Press Holdings. The former president’s career is a very long catalogue of tributes and honour beginning when he first began work in the Singapore Civil Service, then the Labour Movement and notably the work he did for the Singapore Seamen’s Office. In 1974 he adroitly handled the Laju hijack in January 1974 when he courageously volunteered Indian to be a hostage to secure the release of civilian hostages. Former President SR Nathan. Photo from the author’s private collection He also served the community as the Chairman of the Hindu Endowments Board from 1983 to 1988 and was a founding member of the self-help group SINDA as a term trustee and served as the pro-chancellor of the National University of Singapore. In 1988 Nathan was appointed Singapore’s High Commissioner to Malaysia and from 1990 until 1996 he was the Ambassador to the USA. After his tour of duties when he returned to Singapore, he was appointed as an Ambassador-at-large until 17 August 1999.<\/span><\/p>\n

For devoting his life to the service of Singapore, Nathan was awarded the Public Service Star in 1964, Public Administration Medal (Silver) in 1967 and the Meritorious Service Medal in 1974. Nathan was a South Indian Tamil origin and was married to Urmila Nandi of North Indian Bengali origin, blessed with a daughter, a son and three grandchildren.<\/span><\/p>\n

To keep his time occupied after stepping down as the president, he accepted appointments as Distinguished Senior Fellow at the Institute of South East Asian Studies and at the Singapore Management University’s School of Social Sciences.<\/span><\/p>\n

He also actively participated in community related activities before his health scare. On National Day in 2013, Nathan was honoured and conferred with Singapore’s highest Award the Order of the Temasek, First Class. The announcement came with a congratulatory message from PM Lee Hsien Loong who said that this honour was in appreciation of his <\/span>varied contributions to the nation. On 30 October 2014 former President SR Nathan was conferred the Doctor of Letters (Honoris Causa) degree by the Singapore Management University. Those present to witness this function were his family members, SMU Chancellor Yong Pung How, Chairman Ho Kwon Ping, President Professor Arnoud De Meyer, members of the SMU Management and many other dignitaries. At the meeting when asked what he was doing with his retirement, he said he was penning down his thoughts for his next book, to the applause of the audience.<\/span><\/p>\n

The 224-page book titled SR Nathan in Conversation’ was launched on 19 January 2015 at the SMU with his family members and a large gathering of invited guests and dignitaries, among them K Shanmugam, Minister for Home Affairs and Law.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Death<\/span><\/p>\n

President Nathan, 92, was taken ill on 31 July 2016 and hospitalized at Singapore General Hospital from complications resulting from a stroke. He was in the intensive care unit in critical condition. He succumbed to the illness and passed away peacefully on Monday, 22 <\/span>August 2016.<\/span><\/p>\n

As a mark of respect to Singapore’s sixth President, the State flag on all Government buildings was flown at half-mast from Tuesday to Friday. Nathan’s body laid in state at the Parliament House from 10am on Thursday to noon on Friday.<\/span><\/p>\n

The State funeral procession for the late former president commenced at 2pm from the Parliament House and ended at the University Cultural Centre. The State Funeral on Friday 26 August 2016 was given to the former president at the University Cultural Centre at Kent Ridge. It was attended by his family members, friends, former colleagues, President Tony Tan, Prime Minister and his Cabinet Ministers, Members of Parliament, civil servants as well as Singaporeans from all walks of life. The funeral service was followed by a private cremation at Mandai Crematorium.<\/span><\/p>\n

A great saga has come to an end.<\/span>[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_empty_space][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_empty_space height=”10em”][\/vc_column][\/vc_row]<\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

[vc_row][vc_column width=”1\/4″ css=”.vc_custom_1658507093882{border-radius: 10px !important;}”][vc_single_image image=”20567″ img_size=”full” css=”.vc_custom_1658670249181{margin-top: 100px !important;margin-left: 120px !important;}”][\/vc_column][vc_column width=”3\/4″][vc_column_text css=”.vc_custom_1658670329699{margin-top: 100px !important;margin-right: 120px !important;margin-bottom: 100px !important;margin-left: 120px !important;border-right-width: 10px !important;border-left-width: 10px !important;border-radius: 10px !important;}”] SR Nathan IHF-SG Excellence Award For Lifetime Achievement   Sellapan Ramanathan was born on 3 July 1924. He was elected uncontested as the sixth President of Singapore…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"parent":13046,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"full-width.php","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-20563","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"yoast_head":"\nSR Nathan - Indian Hall of Fame Singapore<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Welcome to Indian Hall of Fame Singapore\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/indianhalloffame.sg\/?page_id=20563\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"SR Nathan - Indian Hall of Fame Singapore\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Welcome to Indian Hall of Fame Singapore\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/indianhalloffame.sg\/?page_id=20563\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Indian Hall of Fame Singapore\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/groups\/228094381301418\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2022-07-24T13:46:12+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/indianhalloffame.sg\/?page_id=20563\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/indianhalloffame.sg\/?page_id=20563\",\"name\":\"SR Nathan - 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